Pittsburgh Pirates shut-out Houston Astros 2-0 at PNC Park – MLB Update
Pittsburgh Pirates shut-out Houston Astros 2-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday, July 5 in the finale of their four match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Casey McGehee had an outstanding time with the bat as he doubled to right in the second inning to put the Pirates on the board. Garrett Jones also made his presence felt with a sacrifice fly hit to left in the third inning to double Pirates’ advantage 2-0.
However, the star of the show was starting pitcher Jeff Karstens who picked up his second win of the season, giving up just four hits with eight strike-outs in eight solid innings.
"He was getting strike one, and with the arsenal he has he can take it a lot of places from there," Hurdle said.
"We're confident, not cocky," Hurdle said. "We've worked hard to get to this spot. We're making our way."
"It's a tough road trip for us," said Bud Norris, who lost for the fifth straight time. "We're excited to go home. We've got three games before the (All-Star) break. It's a tough little stretch here but we've got to keep playing hard, keep battling and see
what we can do."
With their win against the Houston Astros on Thursday evening, Pittsburgh completed an emphatic series sweep (their first against Astros since 1979) and they have now moved to first place on the National League Central Division standings table. Credit must
be given to the Manager Clint Hurdle for managing his resources perfectly this season.
The Pirates have not won the World Series title since 1979. For the first time in almost a decade, they are 10 games above the .500 win percentage mark. The fans will be expecting them to continue their impressive run to make it to the playoffs.
Throughout their series with Houston, the Pirates used their home conditions brilliantly. The offence produced a masterful performance in the series opener as the Pirates secured a comfortable 11-2 win. Showing great determination and fighting spirit, the
Pirates edged their opponents 8-7 in the second game.
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